Bat Genes Show High Immunity to COVID and Cancer

Thursday - October 19 2023, 07:12 UTC - 1 year ago

For years, researchers have been studying the remarkable trait of bats to gain immunity to COVID and cancer. Recent discoveries from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists, who sequenced the genomes of jamaican fruit bat and mesoamerican mustached bats, suggest the mammals’s resistance is all to do with their genes. They found that the bats possess interferon-alpha genes which lower the immune system's warning system and allow for high viral tolerance and even more efficient DNA repair capabilities. This may potentially lead to better medical procedures and treatments in the future.

Bat genes show both a high immunity to COVID and cancer and researchers have been studying the animals for years to see if this trait can be transferred to humans. First, bats are known to host a wide variety of coronaviruses without showing any physical symptoms of the disease. They have adapted to coexist with these viruses, and their immune systems have evolved to handle them. Second, bats are renowned for having an exceptionally lengthy lifespan for their size. In comparison to other animals of the same proportions, they have remarkably low rates of cancer despite their small size and high metabolic rates. This has prompted researchers to look into what health components could be responsible for their resistance to cancer.

It's all about the genes Now, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists, who sequenced the genomes of the Jamaican fruit bat and Mesoamerican mustached bat, claim that the mammals’s resistance all has to do with their genes. Using the latest Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology, the researchers assembled the entire genomes of both types of bats. They then compared these sequences to those of 15 other bat and mammal genomes, including the human genome. What they found was nothing short of surprising. "We didn’t know immune system genes were so positively selected in bat genomes. Bats have a number of very unusual things about them. They don’t respond to infections the way we do. In retrospect, it’s not surprising this difference in the immune system may be involved in both the aging and cancer response," said in a statement CSHL Professor W. Richard McCombie. They further discovered that by releasing genes that create interferon-alpha, bats have lowered the immune system's warning system. The animals may, therefore, have a high viral tolerance because of this trait. One of the reasons infections are so harmful to humans is that they result in an overreactive immune system that destroys healthy tissue. Bats’ genes prevent this from happening.

Repairing DNA Additionally, they discovered that the genomes of bats have more modifications in cancer-related genes than those of other animals, including six changes that repair DNA and 46 changes that suppress tumors. This is in line with past studies that have suggested that bats may have more efficient DNA repair mechanisms, which help prevent the accumulation of DNA damage, a common precursor to cancer. These enhanced DNA repair capabilities may play a role in their reduced cancer risk. The researchers now anticipate that their research will offer fresh perspectives on how immunity, aging, and cancer are related and may even eventually result in better medical procedures and treatments. "There’s still a lot of unknowns," CSHL Professor Adam Siepel said. "Ultimately, we’ll take the work as far as we can and hand off the baton to experts in disease to work toward developing drugs or other therapeutics." .